Breeding Ground

• Writer - Terry Kavanagh
• Penciler - Roger Cruz
• Inker - Bud LaRosa
• Inker - Wellington Diaz
• Colorist - Mike Thomas
• Lettering - Richard Starkings
• Lettering - Comicraft
• Editor - Jaye Gardner
• Editor in Chief - Bob Harras

Summary

  Note: this is a "Flashback" issue, introduced and concluded by Marvel creator Stan Lee.

  In a Nebraska orphanage, Sinister has a test-tube baby lab hidden from Apocalypse, in which he has created Nate as a fail-safe weapon. He takes him out to check under the hood, and decides to name him, after himself and Jean.

  Dark Beasts rings up, suspicious. Nate wanders off and sees memory-images of other orphans. Sinister searches for him, angry (no tracking implant?), and warns him of the dangers of the outside world.

  Nate psychically projects them to the gene pens and tries to stop them, but Sinister jams his signal, worried that the boy's powers are developing too fast. He gives the kid a teddy bear and puts him back in his nutrient bath. He decides to encode a fail-safe into Nate's DNA.